Rene Descartes
As I live my life, I ask a question about the Mind and Body distinction. Even at this moment while typing an essay paper, I am thinking of Descartes’ assertion, I think, therefore, I exist, but does this tell me of the distinction between the body and mind? According to Descartes, I can conceive of myself as existing without the body, but not without the mind, therefore mind and body are distinct. So my writing self is the mind that directs the ambiguous or deceived physical body that types this essay. But the body also can affect the mind, e.g. if one was a mindless figure, he would act totally like an animal. He wouldn’t act out of rationality but rather out of instinct. Instinct can mean two things: a repeated action or a mindless reaction to an event. A mindless being doesn’t have “conscience”, “convictions”, or “faith”. Throughout this essay, I will support the Cartesian view that the mind and the body are distinct and interact with each other. In Descartes’ essay, Mind as Distinct from Body, he argues that the body is always divisible whereas the mind is entirely indivisible. Let us assume that someone saws your leg off, in consequence, you know that a
I had described that the mind and body are totally distinct. I added more explanations to the Descartes’ argument: minds are totally distinct from bodies. I used mathematical methods to compare minds and bodies that minds are dimensionally different from bodies. I argued that minds exist in human beings. I showed that humans have minds whereas highly sophisticated computers can imitate human actions and thinking process but don’t have conscience. Second, minds exist in human beings. Let’s assume all human beings are without minds instead only the physical brains direct our actions. In a physical sense, humans store information taken from outside and put into their brains. Here is a problem then, how can one explain a person making a decision not for the benefit of himself but for the group that he is in based on the information he has? This is certainly the area where humans are significantly distinct from machines. Although Machines have electrical brains called RAM and ROM that can store information, machines do not have conscience like humans. Although highly sophisticated computers can imitate the actions or thinking process of humans, they don’t have conscience. Because of the fact that the machines only function according to the calculated optimum result of the various information that they have received from outside world, machines don’t understand the meaning of having a true heart, generous heart, or anything. Although it seems conceptually reasonable that minds and bodies are two totally distinct things, it also looks physiologically reasonable to say that there is no mind at all. For example, a neurosurgeon dissects a dead body’s head and takes out the brain from the dead body. He puts the brain on the table and seeks for the part where it recognizes and distinguishes different colors. He, then, finds the spot and examines it for a while and then touches it. It seems as if though there is mind in the brain, but how can totally two distinct matters reside in the same place? And interact? Everything is composed of matter and energy and can be explained by physical laws. All human activity can be understood as the natural behavior of matter according to mechanical laws and therefore thinking is merely a complex form of behaving.
Some topics in this essay:
Distinct Body,
RAM ROM,
According Descartes,
Mind Body,
mind body,
totally distinct,
mind mind,
mind body distinction,
body distinction,
example person,
minds bodies,
fourth dimension,
third dimension,
descartes contends mind,
dimension objects seen,
mind body distinct,
mental spiritual,
variable zero,
body descartes contends,
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Approximate Word count = 1545
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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